GLOBE-Net, July 7, 2011 - Many companies
market sustainable or green products hoping socially conscious
consumers will pay more for them, or that sustainability attributes
will give their product an edge over the competition.
But research has shown that many issues affect whether consumers
actually buy sustainable products-and according to the United
Nations Environment Programme, only four percent actually purchase
ethically even though 40 percent say they will.
We know sustainable products may be left on the shelves if
consumers feel they have to pay a premium for them. But can a
product's sustainability (or lack thereof) influence how consumers
view its other attributes? In which contexts can sustainability
hurt sales?
Michael Luchs (College of William and Mary), Rebecca Walker
Naylor (Ohio State University), Julie Irwin and Rajagopal
Raghunathan (both University of Texas) suggest the answer depends
on which attributes consumers value in a particular context.
Sometimes, the benefit of sustainability is overshadowed to the
point where consumers would actually prefer to buy a less
sustainable product.
The researchers conducted five studies assessing consumers'
preferences for strength or gentleness in products, and how a
product's sustainability affects consumers' perceptions of the
product and its other attributes.
First, consumers link more sustainable products with gentle
attributes like "safe" and less sustainable products with strength
attributes like "harsh". This is consistent with messaging
suggesting being tough or successful isn't consistent with being
ethical-e.g. the sayings "nice guys finish last" or "to make an
omelet, you have to break some eggs."
Researchers also found consumers value sustainability when
they're looking for gentle products like baby shampoo. But
sustainability can be detrimental when consumers seek tough
products like car shampoo.
How consumers behave also depends on who's watching. In one
experiment, participants were more likely to actually use a green
hand sanitizer over a conventional one when they knew they were
being observed.
Conversely, they were more likely to use a less sustainable hand
sanitizer when they were alone. This is yet another example of the
desirability bias leading people to behave more ethically when in
public.
This may be great news if you're selling baby shampoo. But
what's a marketer of athletic shoes or trucks to do?
Mitigate by explicitly painting green products as "strong". In
one experiment, consumers perceived a green brand of tires to be
more durable and more likely to sell when the tire was accompanied
with a "guaranteed strong" message.
If you're playing in a product category where being "tough"
counts, try associating sustainable products with an established
brand name, as Clorox did with its Green Works line. If you're in a
"gentle" product category, play up your sustainability. Burt's Bees
line of personal care products has built a successful brand by
emphasizing ethicality and gentleness.
Source - Luchs, Michael, Rebecca Walker
Naylor, Julie Irwin and Rajagopal Raghunathan. (2010). The sustainability liability: Potential negative
effects of ethicality on product preference. Journal of
Marketing, 74: 18-31.
This article reproduced with permission from the Network for Business Sustainability.